What Insurance is Cheapest for Inexperienced Drivers in Oakland?

You’ve seen the captivating commercials from insurers like GEICO, Progressive, and Allstate that make promises of the cheapest rates. So you just need to choose the one with the most memorable commercial, right?

It’s not that easy, however, as there are a ton of unknown elements such as what deductibles to use for physical damage coverage, the annual mileage you drive, whether you want full coverage, and if you are married, that all influence how much you pay for auto insurance. We will touch on the best ways to avoid overpriced car insurance and should give you a good start to your coverage search.

For new drivers, one of the more important components that determine the amount you pay for auto insurance is where you keep your vehicle. Areas with increased crime or more people will most likely pay more, whereas areas with less people or fewer weather incidents have the benefit of cheaper auto insurance prices.

The next table rates the most costly cities in California for inexperienced drivers in which to purchase auto insurance. Oakland is ranked at #4 with the annual price of $1,738 for car insurance, which is approximately $145 per month.

Rate quotes are estimated as specific location information can impact price quotes considerably.

The car, truck, or SUV you are trying to insure is one of the primary factors that determines whether or not you can buy affordable auto insurance for inexperienced drivers. Vehicles with higher performance characteristics, a lack of safety features, or a history of substantial liability claims will cost substantially more to insure than more modest models.

The next table showcases coverage premiums for the most cost-effective vehicles to insure.

Table data assumes single male driver age 40, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-policy, safe-driver, claim-free, homeowner, and multi-vehicle. Rate quotes do not factor in specific Oakland, CA garaging location which can raise or lower auto insurance rates significantly.

By looking at the data, we can tell that models like the Honda Accord, Ford Escape, and Honda CR-V should be some of the most budget-friendly vehicles to insure for new drivers.

Safe drivers pay less for insurance

In a perfect world, the ideal way to get the cheapest insurance premiums for new drivers is to be a careful driver and avoid at-fault accidents and violations. The diagram below illustrates how violations and fender-benders can raise auto insurance costs for each different age group. The information is based on a married male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, $500 deductibles, and no discounts are applied to the premium.

In the previous example, the average cost of an auto insurance policy per year with no accidents or violations is $2,396. Receive two speeding tickets and the average cost jumps to $3,307, an increase of $911 each year. Then add one accident along with the two speeding tickets and the 12-month cost of insurance for inexperienced drivers goes up to an average of $4,227. That’s an increase of $1,831, or $153 per month, just for not driving safely!

Discounts on Oakland auto insurance

Insurers that offer quotes for inexperienced drivers may also give you premium discounts that can lower rates by 25% or more if you meet certain criteria. The best insurance companies and their offered discounts are:

• State Farm offers discounts for Drive Safe & Save, good driver, defensive driving training, anti-theft, accident-free, and safe vehicle.
• Farmers Insurance may include discounts for early shopping, business and professional, pay in full, multi-car, switch companies, alternative fuel, and electronic funds transfer.
• GEICO has savings for multi-policy, emergency military deployment, membership and employees, anti-theft, and five-year accident-free.
• American Family offers discounts including mySafetyValet, multi-vehicle, air bags, accident-free, defensive driver, early bird, and TimeAway discount.
• Nationwide may have discounts that include family plan, multi-policy, business or organization, defensive driving, accident-free, and easy pay.
• Progressive policyholders can earn discounts including multi-vehicle, online signing, online quote discount, multi-policy, good student, continuous coverage, and homeowner.

The diagram below compares insurance prices with and without some available policy discounts. Data assumes a male driver, no claims or driving violations, California state minimum liability limits, comp and collision included, and $1,000 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the price with no discounts. The second bar shows the rates with marriage, claim-free, multiple vehicle, accident-free, safe-driver, and homeowner discounts applied. When these discounts are applied to the policy premium, theaverage yearly reduction on insurance for inexperienced drivers is 28% or $703.

The example below demonstrates how deductibles can influence yearly insurance costs when researching cheap insurance for inexperienced drivers. The information is based on a single male driver, full physical damage coverage, and no policy discounts are applied.

The chart above illustrates that a 50-year-old driver could lower rates by $506 a year by switching the physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $762 by using a $1,000 deductible. Young drivers, like the 20-year-old category, could lower their rates up to $1,674 annually just by using higher deductibles.

When insureds make the decision to increase the deductibles on their policy, it will be important to have emergency funds available to enable you to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense. That is the one drawback of using higher deductibles.

The importance of comparing Oakland car insurance rates

Oakland, CA insurance rates are determined by lots of factors that will increase or decrease the price you pay for coverage. Turning one year older, buying a new vehicle, or having a fender bender may prompt premium changes resulting in some companies being more affordable than others.

Also, insurers change their prices every year in order to offset underwriting gains or losses. An extended period of higher than normal claims can result in a rate increase, while a better claims history may produce cheaper Oakland car insurance rates.

The chart below compares the cheapest car insurance in Oakland, CA for a 45-year-old female driver with a clean driving record, no accidents, and a good credit history. When comparing rates based on her current situation, USAA offers the lowest car insurance rates in Oakland at $1,450 a year. This is $201 less than the average premium paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide are the rest of the best Oakland, CA auto insurance companies.

Now we will give the driver from the first example an accident surcharge, slightly worse credit, and a speeding ticket. Since each company has a unique formula for setting rates, analyzing rate quotes may result in a slightly different list of the cheapest car insurance companies in Oakland as shown below.

Grange now has the cheapest insurance rate in Oakland, CA with Allstate, Progressive, Mercury, and Allied now being in the top five. This example shows why it is critical to shop around to get the lowest auto insurance quotes for inexperienced drivers.

Prices are determined by many factors and change dramatically, so the lowest-price company two years ago may now not even be in the top five.